System-wide hematopoietic and immune signaling aberrations in COVID-19 revealed by deep proteome and phosphoproteome analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has become a global crisis. To gain systems-level insights into its pathogenesis, we compared the blood proteome and phosphoproteome of ICU patients with or without SARS-CoV-2 infection, and healthy control subjects by quantitative mass spectrometry. We find that COVID-19 is marked with hyperactive T cell and B cell signaling, compromised innate immune response, and dysregulated inflammation, coagulation, metabolism, RNA splicing, transcription and translation pathways. SARS-CoV-2 infection causes global reprogramming of the kinome and kinase-substrate network, resulting in defective antiviral defense via the CK2-OPN-IL-12/IFN-/{beta} axis, lymphocyte cell death via aberrant JAK/STAT signaling, and inactivation of innate immune cells via inhibitory SIRPA, SIGLEC and SLAM family receptor signaling. Our work identifies CK2, SYK, JAK3, TYK2 and IL-12 as potential targets for immunomodulatory treatment of severe COVID-19 and provides a valuable approach and resource for deciphering the mechanism of pathogen-host interactions.

Effect of oncogene Yap1 silencing combined with tanshinone IIA on Huh-7 hepatoma cells / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of the Yap1 gene and tanshinone ⅡA on the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of Huh-7 hepatoma cells. MethodsA total of 10 pairs of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) samples and adjacent tissue samples were collected in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from June 1 to December 1, 2019. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to measure the expression of the Yap1 gene and phenotype-related molecules. MTT cell proliferation detection reagent was used to measure the inhibition rate of cell proliferation after the treatment with different concentrations of tanshinone ⅡA. Western blotting was used to measure the changes in the expression of apoptosis-and migration-related markers after different interventions. Flow cytometry and Transwell assay were used to measure apoptosis and cell migration and invasion abilities. The data of 375 cases of liver cancer and 50 cases of relatively normal liver tissue samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas, including clinicopathological information. The t-test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. ResultsIn 8 of the 10 pairs of HCC samples and adjacent tissue samples, HCC samples had significantly higher expression of Yap1 than the adjacent tissue samples. Compared with the normal human liver epithelial cells L02, the Huh-7 and HCCL-M3 hepatoma cells had a significant increase in the expression of Yap1. The silencing efficiency of si-Yap1-3 transfection reached 87.004% at the protein level. MTT results showed that tanshinone ⅡA effectively inhibited the proliferation of Huh-7 cells, with a half inhibitory concentration of 8.683 μmol/L. After the cells were treated with si-Yap1-3 and tanshinone ⅡA, there was an increase in the expression of the downstream marker for proliferation and migration E-cadherin and a reduction in the expression of vimentin, and the results of Transwell assay showed that compared with the si-NC group, the tanshinone ⅡA+si-Yap1-3 group had significant reductions in the migration and invasion abilities of Huh-7 cells (migration: 43.19±2.88 vs 132.20±10.03, t=8.527, P=0.001; invasion: 53.95±4.20 vs 179.10±11.11, t=4.484, P=0.011). The group treated with si-Yap1-3 and tanshinone ⅡA had an increase in the expression of the apoptosis-related marker Bax and a reduction in the expression of Bcl-2, as well as a significantly higher early apoptosis rate than the si-NC group (2598% vs 9.21%, χ2=4.078, P＜0.05). ConclusionOncogene Yap1 silencing combined with tanshinone ⅡA can promote the apoptosis of Huh-7 hepatoma cells and inhibit their migration and invasion, which can provide certain guiding significance for clinical medication.

Role of the Hippo signaling pathway in the development and progression of primary liver cancer / 临床肝胆病杂志

The incidence rate of primary liver cancer continues to increase around the world, with a younger age of onset and poorer prognosis. As the most classic regulator of cell polarity and density, mechanical signal transduction, cell proliferation, and organ development, the Hippo pathway can promote the development and progression of various cancers including primary liver cancer. YAP, a classic nuclear effector of the Hippo pathway, is significantly upregulated in primary liver cancer and promotes the development of drug resistance. This article aims to investigate the association of the dysregulation of the Hippo signaling pathway with the development and progression of primary liver cancer and analyzes the mechanism of action of the Hippo signaling pathway in the drug resistance of primary liver cancer as an early event of the development of primary liver cancer, which is of great significance for exploring new treatment strategies for primary liver cancer.

Metformin reverses bFGF-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in HCC cells.

Metformin had exerted important inhibitory effects in multiple cancers. However, the correlation between metformin and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis, and the relevant mechanisms are still unclear. By quantitative proteomics analysis technique, we found metformin could suppress FGF signalling significantly. In FGF signalling basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a crucial member, it initially binds to its receptors, the complex of bFGF and receptors activate FGF signallings, and promote many cancers progressions. When treating HCC cell lines HepG2 and Huh7 with bFGF, we observed the cells exhibited epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and these cells metastasis potential was enhanced dramaticlly. However, when treating with metformin and bFGF together, EMT and metastasis induced by bFGF could be inhibited in these cells. Furthermore, bFGF could activate AKT/GSK-3ß signalling, sequentially decrease the interaction between GSK-3ß and Twist1 and decrease ubiquitination of Twist1 leading to Twist1 degradation reducing. While metformin could repress the bFGF-mediated activation in AKT/GSK-3ß signalling, inhibition on interaction between GSK-3ß and Twist1, enhancement of Twist1 stability. Taken together, our findings suggested that metformin had prominent negative effects on bFGF-induced EMT and metastasis in HCC cells.

Comprehensive analysis of the N and C terminus of endogenous serum peptides reveals a highly conserved cleavage site pattern derived from proteolytic enzymes

The human serum proteome is closely associated with the state of the body. Endogenous peptides derived from proteolytic enzymes cleaving on serum proteins are widely studied due to their potential application in disease-specific marker discovery. However, the reproducibility of peptidome analysis of endogenous peptides is significantly influenced by the proteolytic enzymes within body fluids, thereby limiting the clinical use of the endogenous peptides. We comprehensively investigated the N and C terminus of endogenous peptides using peptidomics. The cleavage site patterns of the N and C terminus and adjacent sites from all the identified endogenous peptides were highly conserved under different sample preparation conditions, including long-term incubation at 37°C and pretreatment with repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Furthermore, a distinguishable cleavage site pattern was obtained when a different disease serum was analyzed. The conserved cleavage site pattern derived from proteolytic enzymes holds potential in highly specific disease diagnosis.

Optimization of method for extraction of template of bacteria for randomly amplified polymorphic DNA / 军事医学科学院院刊

Objective:To obtain optimum template for randomly amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD). Methods:Four different methods(rod winding, precipitation, boiling and lysis)for extraction of template DNA were used.The length and purity of template DNA and its RAPD profile were observed separately by agarose gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometric scan assays and RAPD reaction.Results:The template DNA (>23 kb) with high purity and the same RAPD profile with 2-4 kb DNA fragments were obtained by both rod winding and precipitation method. However,the template DNA (4 kb and 2 kb,respectively) with break and dispersion and low purity was extracted by method of boiling and lysis, and 600-2 000 bp DNA fragments were seen in the similar RAPD profile.Conclusions: Template DNA extracted by rod winding or precipitation method was optimized for RAPD.

Comparison of single factor design and response surface design to optimize the reaction system for randomly amplified polymorphic DNA / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective To obtain optimum scheme on reaction system for randomly amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods The optimum reaction systems of RAPD were obtained by single factor design and response surface design(RSD). Results The multiple optimum reaction systems caused by effect of interaction on multifactor were observed in single factor design, and the concentrations of key components of the optimum reaction system with good stability obtained by response surface design were 2.0 mmol/L of Mg 2+ , 0.5 ?mol/L of primer and 0.5 ng/?l of template. Conclusion To optimize the reaction system of RAPD, RSD is simpler, more scientific, and more reasonable than single factor design.